Gone to a place that is unknown to many...

Wednesday, February 28, 2007

Harbin Ice Festival

My mother came to DC to visit me and my brother two weeks ago. When she was here, she brought a lot of pictures so that I could view them. My father took these pictures when he was in China two months ago for his business trip. The highlight of his trip was a visit to the Harbin Ice Festival. Here are several pictures I saw:

An ice sculpture over an Olympics logo


"Snow" house


Even a door could be found in a 'snow' house


A typical day during the festival


May the night began!


You can walk on the sculpture!


Ice sculptures decorated with impressive colors of light!


This is what "Ice and Snow World" in Harbin is like!


I learned that this is the 23th International Ice and Snow Festival in Harbin, the China's northernmost major city. I also discovered that Harbin was in a race for the 2010 Winter Olympics, but it was awarded to Vancouver, Canada, instead. I don't think I will ever visit Harbin, due to its murderous cold weather - how does -15 degrees Fahrenheit sound to you?! However, I am really glad my father got a chance to visit there.